In Need Of Change
by Last Harlequin
Summary: A Few years down the Line, and many months of Restlessness lead a certain green titan to realise his life is sorely in need of something, so he sets off to find it, without anything to hold him back. BB/J now updated!
1. To go Forth

General Disclaimer: I Do not Own Teen titans or any of the Non-Origional charactors presnted within they are the intellectual property of another.

The Times had changed slowly, the world advanced by bits and pieces as time crawled by, though many things stayed the same, Starfire loved her Mustard, and Nightwing, previously known as Robin, obsessed over the percentages and probabilities of Crime. Raven Meditated, Cyborg worked on his car. Changeling, who had been Beast Boy until he stopped being so much a boy, had taken to video games as ever before. It was the same life it had always been, they would argue, make up and fight crime whenever the alarm went off, the still teen titans had settled into a staple, but that was what weighed on the Green boy's mind. He had sat a few nights a week and thought about this, he felt something stirring in him, and it definitely wasn't gas. It had taken him a long time, but finally he had worked out what it was. It was boredom. Life was growing monotonous and somewhat quiet, with Slade perpetually absent and the Titans Stronger than ever Criminals hardly put up a fight. There were days where only one or two of them would go, it was all that was needed now. Changeling continually found himself bored and more and more quiet, sure he still pulled something now and again, and the cheesy jokes still rolled as heavy as ever but there was a complacency that hadn't been there before. Just something that had faded with time and practice. Something needed to happen, and he decided finally he knew what it was.

He began without telling a soul, just a little bit now and again, taking off flying from time to time, no one thought anything of it. But he knew what he was doing, he was slowly getting rid of the trash, selling what he could and pawning the rest. He used it to build up a bit of a padded bank account in an international bank. He would fly, taking a small pack with him containing this and that, cleaning out the sty he called home. It was slow work, but each little bit gave him that much more to work with.

You see, our Green Hero was planning a trip… well not really a trip, more like a self-imposed exodus from Jump city, he planned to leave, they could handle everything well enough he saw it every day, he could go a week without needing to leave the tower. This was getting to be enough, and enough is indeed enough. However someone did take notice, it was Raven, she had noticed his behavior was slightly out of the ordinary, and had gleaned a sense of dissatisfaction from his mind, just a malaise of quiet unhappiness. She thought it a phase but as time went on and it continued it slowly became more and more clear that something was afoot. She knew going to Nightwing would be a mistake, as much as he was a good leader, interpersonal relations had never been his cup of tea. No she took it upon herself to watch the young man as he worked, watching him slowly clearing his room, and making room in his life, he went on missions even less than normal, often away when the alarm went off, it was odd, and slowly bordering on distressing. She was contemplating this very subject when someone advanced on her from behind, she turned slowly her face still carefully controlled to meet the black mask of their leader. The Dark Bird stood before her with a concerned look on his face but she got the distinct impression it wasn't about her.

"Raven, I need you to tell me something." He asked carefully before continuing obviously not done with his question. "It's about Changeling, I noticed you've been keeping an eye on him, and have to ask if you've noticed what I have." It sounded like a statement but she knew it was a question unasked 'raven what do you know about his weird behavior?' that was what lingered in the air and she paused a moment to collect her thoughts, there was a lot she could answer that with, that he had suddenly taken an interest in flying, that he might have gotten a girlfriend, maybe he was simply bored. It was hard to guess the real reason but she thought she might as well just say what he probably wanted to hear anyway.

"It's probably just his way of seeking a little space, and growing up." And with that, in her own typical fashion she turned to leave, but as she did so, her arm was caught in his grip, not roughly, but firm in his face held more than a few ounces of concern now.

"I don't think it's that, I think it's a little more, and I know that's not what you think." It was endlessly amazing how he managed to latch onto people's emotional state so easily and guess thoughts like that, she sometimes wondered if he might be an empathy and not even know it himself. But that was hardly the point of the question, she sighed inaudible, and almost invisibly before speaking again.

"something is bothering him, he's unhappy, deeply so. I don't know what caused it, or even what he plans to do. But it's something and it's going to be soon." She said and pulled her arm free of his loosened grasp as he looked worriedly thoughtful.

"I thought it was something like that, he's been cleaning out his room, his stuff was slowly disappearing…. It worries me, and I think we both know what he's planning." He let the words hang in air, but it was true she had been thinking along those same lines somewhere in her mind because the words rose to the surface far too easily. He's Leaving.

Their suspicions were proved, not a week later. Changeling had never come out for breakfast, he had never turned on the TV and started playing games, he wasn't laying pranks, and wasn't out flying, they had looked, the only place he could be was in his room. And finally the Titans assembled outside his room, and there, strapped to the door with tape were two things, his communicator, and a note, hand scrawled by the Tower prankster. It read rather well and it was obvious he had put some thought into what he was saying. The note was written on clean white paper as nightwing reached up ad pulled I down and slowly began to read.

"Friends, Titans, Teammates. I have decided I needed a change. Not just of pace, and scenery, but of life. I'm going; I don't know when or even if I'll be back. Don't worry about me, and don't look for me, I'm traveling light and moving a lot faster than most of you could manage. So please guys, don't make this any harder than this is. I'm going because I wan to, there is o plot, there is no conspiracy, I'm just….. in need of change."

He looked up solemnly to his comrades in arms, in peace and war with a sadness the titans had not scene in their leader in a very long time. He folded the note back up and handed it to Cyborg as he passed him, and just walked away, Star followed Nightwing quickly the normally jubilant alien quiet with a contemplative look on his face. Cybrog looked down at the note in his hand and closed his mechanical palm around the paper with a slight crinkle and also walked away, likely to his own room, he had some things to do, he had mumbled. Raven however had a little more on her mind as she stepped forward and reaching up a hesitant hand pulled down Beast... Changeling's communicator had held it's small weight in her palm she stared at it for a few moments wondering if maybe any moment it would crackle to life and the green titan's voice would come out yelling about how well he had gotten her but it remained silent. she sighed a bit and pulled the communicator into the darkness of her robes and with one last glanse toward his door she moved away back to her own room, he may have been annoying, he may have been crude, and he may have been odd, but he was her friend... once in her room, she nearly jumped when a bottle on her dresser flashed black and exploded a moment later, she settled her mind a bit and began to chant her mantra laying his communicator on the dresser in the recently vacated position, almost reverently, and the quiet of her room was broken by the solemn chant that had become her marker many times over.

Looking Back, at the city he was leaving was something weird, sure he had been outside Jump many times, but this was the first time he had no intent to come back. it was at once a lightening and a damning feeling. he had so many powerful memories of this city, and it's protectors. but now was time for something different, something new. a place where he can be anyone. he wasn't going to go too far down the melodramatic train bu he couldn't help but feel a touch of nostalgia for the good old days, and with a light chuckle he turned back to the plate of vegetables he had grabbed at a diner at the edge of town. This was the start of something Grand and new. He could feel it already stuffing a stalk of broccoli into his mouth and chewing with a dreamy expression. and Thus began something indeed new, and a turn in the lives of a great number of people all brought about by someone who was simply, In Need Of Change.

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A/N: This story is my Break from Promises, so all people waiting for that please enjoy this little spur of the moment idea. There will likely be romance in Later Chapters. So please bear with my insanity! Unitl Next Time!


	2. Titans North

This whole thing was feeling like an adventure still

This whole thing was feeling like an adventure still. It was funny how much things changed once he had left behind jump and moved on. The Green Titan now stood on a crag looking down to a plain of Urban Sprawl and he knew he was on the edge of the City upon which Titan's north had held jurisdiction for some time, this one was under the heading of some newer titan he couldn't remember which, it might even have been Hotspot. He had never committed it to memory. He sat down dropping the small backpack he had taken with him and sighed his feet dangling over the edge of the small drop down to the next steppe of the decent. A few meters down he saw a roadway passing by, he settled on watching the synthetics alight as the sun rose in the east, it was another amusing little fact that once he was out of the Titan's Tower he had been awaking earlier, his mind more alert, less dazed when there was no action. He also thought about how he had decided to walk rather than fly, as nice as flying was, there was so much one missed with the perspective from above, a certain beauty. It was breathtaking to be alone in the undisturbed woods, he didn't really need a tent or anything, he could bed down wherever he wished, in any form he wished, though human was by far the most comfortable, he never told any of his friends back in Titans Tower but it always felt strange to be in another skin, it was different sure but there was a sense of wrongness in the back of his mind telling him to change back to human, he assumed it was the human part of him calling to his natural form over the cries of an infinitum of animals. It was rather disconcerting. However, it was something he had kept from them because it really had no bearing on anything they needed to know about him. They had his past down, sure, and his history and a profile and his powers, but even he didn't know his limits though he had done some exploring he was also keenly aware of one thing, attempting to try to change into something he couldn't manage hurt a lot, and resulted in something like a mutation, a pain that many of them couldn't even imagine because it was a rebellion against nature. He had once tried to turn into a Dragon, he found that attempting it the usual way was simply impossible, it resulted in him nearly blacking out when he came back to. He had never tried anything like that again. He looked up to the city and noticed the sun was significantly higher and chuckled to himself he had probably been musing for a few hours.

Well he had all the time in the world right now, so why not. He hopped down from the crag and landed in an impact absorbing crouch, standing to look down the road and slowly walked it to skirt the city. He glanced into the skyscrapers and something was happening, he squinted against the glare and then dropped his backpack and shifted forms rising with a Squawk into the air riseing higher on Eagles wings until his eyes adjusted to the light and distance and he looked to the buildings again as he made lazy circles, it had been an Explosion he could tell that much, he watched the world from his airy height with interest, it was a villain that much was obvious. But he saw flashes and soon the explosions stopped a few blazes into the air had told him all he needed to know, the Titans had handled it. Seems they were just as effective here as in Jump, he descended lazily as he saw soemthig depart the scene and fly up he paused as he came to land on a branch f a tree a few dozen feet from his pack, head twisted in surprise. The things moved swifty out to the side of town, he traced their path and tried to figure out where they were headed, and soon enough it became unerringly obvious, there was a T set on a small hill not too far outside the city, obviously the Tower for North. He went down to his pack and shifted back to human form and shouldered his pack, deciding that maybe it was time he had some real contact, besides he wondered if they had any Tofu, he had been living off a survivalist's handbook for weeks. That and whatever he could scrounge in animal form, he still didn't like the idea of hunting for food, so he stuck to the roots, plants, nuts, and berries. He walked with no hurry the Tower would in all likelihood still be there when he got there.

The Trek had been a slow one, but the pace was leisurely and the pickings of food grew slimmer as he advanced further and further into the city, he also was carful to cover up more so he wouldn't be immediately spotted, he had taken to a Brown hoodie, the Logo that had been on it had been removed with a careful claw, he wasn't fond of the Brand but the Hoodie was warm, he had only brought a few pairs of clothes with him and just this for warmth, he'd buy a Jacket when he needed it. It was only just beginning to be fall now, a little nip in the days but not a lot. So his attire wasn't ludicrous. The cold wasn't really a problem. It was more the tone of his skin, he didn't need to be a tabloid monster sighting if he could help it. The Progress to the Tower was eventually halted by a Chain Link Gate, they lived on a reclaimed landfill the Grass was especially green here, it looked nice, he buzzed the intercom at the gate and a voice came through soon enough, It was not hotspot, the Voice was cool and calculated, and almost sounded annoyed the greeting was less than warm as well.

"Who Goes?" it asked with a certain icy edge to his tones as Changeling pushed the intercom button the speak and paused a moment before responding.

"Garfield Logan, Formerly Changeling of Titans Jump." There was a pause on the other end of the line a moment then two and spread into a slowly unnerving silence until it buzzed to life again startling Gar from his Trance like position.

"Alright, I believe you. Come in." the cold voice said and the gates rolled open on well oiled rollers and he walked in, suppressing the urge to roll around In the grass, it was such a nice day, but one of the unfortunate side effects of not wearing his unifom anymore except the pants was, he destroyed whatever he happened to be wearing. Besides, he had Titans to meet. He walked up to the T and the doors opened automatically into the Foyer at the opening, it was similar to the Origional at least, though security cameras zeroed in on him immediately, it was rather spooky, other than that there were two people in the room, one was a young man, no older than Gar himself, his hair was white as snow though, his face a touch pale and his lips slightly blue, he had the look of exhaustion about him and his breath left wisps in the air, Garfield looked over his outfit, it was a black leather outfit complete with fingerless knuckleless gloves and down to half calf boots buckled up thr front a fur lined collar stood around his neck and shoulders like a mantle, well this guy was by far more creepy and Gothy than Raven could ever be. The Other titan present was someone with whom he actually had a passing familiarity, Her pink hair rose up in those odd double things as usual and the Cattlike eyes of Jinx lay on him withthat mischievious grin, she had Joined the Titans not long after the Brotherhood's defeat and was very disappointed when Kid Flash quit thereafter for Parts unknown, she had taken her assignment with little pleasure but it seemed she had settled in some, and it was amusing to see how similarly her and the one who could only be the commander looked. He held a straight face and stepped forward as the Icy one did offering his Palm and the chilled words.

"Welcome to Tower North"

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A/N: Two Chappies in one day, Like I said this is a distraction, I am having a hard time getting the next bit Of my other story to come out right so I went on a whim and am letting the words fly. please R&R if you like this story otherwise it will discontinue at the end of my little writer's block for Promises.


	3. I Concur

The Welcome had been warm, and really appreciated by the green teen. The interesting part was they had a vegetarian on the team already so he didn't need to request anything special, the name of him was Jin, he was a marital artist with a strange talent, he was a creature of great power but required to remain in balance. anything destructive he did created a healing or regenerative effect of equal measure. This made him an incredible team asset naturally. The others were the cold Teen, his name was Darious if memory served, ipso facto ruler of the tower judging by the constantly low setting on the thermostat, the others present were Jinx. Who had matured a little, adding a bit of curve to her figure as she aged some, not a lot but a little in all the right places, as well as an inch or so in height, she was either a slow, or no-grower. A fact he filed away for another time. Fourth was Killswitch, with undeniable power over machines, as well as one Grey, who had yet to make an appearance but he assumed that this guy was like Raven and didn't get out much. He shrugged it off as unimportant. The Tower was a lot cleaner than theirs had been when he left, possibly due to not having Changeling himself and Starfire to deal with what with her culinary meddling. Not to mention Cyborg and his insane sport ideas. Well it was quieter here, and he sat with his vegetarian brother and smiled over a cup of tea, Jin had been teaching him Zazen, Seated meditation, and he suddenly found out why Raven did it so much, he had never felt more relaxed in all his life. he smiled and Jin smiled and they both shared a quiet knowing laugh as someone walked in to the room and cleared her throat, she looked rather discontent as she had her arms crossed her slitted eyes half closed in a look of bored annoyance as she spoke in a half sarcastic somewhat caustic tone.

"The Boss wants to know how long you plan to stay." Jin harrumphed quietly and mumbled something about rude impatience and Zen. Gar just shrugged, if he wasn't welcome anymore he would move on, it was nice, but it was a respite at best. he looked up at her with a sympathetic glance remembering when Robi-... Nightwing had used him for a messenger boy more than once in the last few years. It was never fun. He stood up and walked over his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"why? did I wear out my welcome that fast?" he asked with a smile and she chuckled and softened a bit then looked back at him with a serious expression though the mischief in the luck witch's eyes never completely faded. as she looked back down the hall a moment and hooked a thumb over her shoulder casually placing her other hand on her hip.

"no, he just asked in his usually cold, callous way." she said as though talking about the weather, apparently the obsessive and over serious leader was a motif in use everywhere. he merely chuckled and thought about his response.

"I think I'll just spend the night, I could use a shower and a bed, heck a cot would do it for me." He smiled, all that time camping had lowered his standards a few rungs, but it would be nice to have some hot water for a while, even if only one night. ahh, hot water.

Jinx smiled mutedly and turned and walked back toward the back corridor and doubtlessly the Cold freak's room, he went and sat down with Jin who insisted on apologizing for his leader's 'unnecessary rudeness to a guest' But it was all forgotten soon enough. A touch later on in the day, pressing into the cool evening Gar walked up to the roof of the tower and took a seat on the ledge, just looking out over the city as he had done so often at Jump. It was pleasing and quiet up this high with only the occasional breeze to break the glowing scene of the sun's last rays shooting off the builds slowly fading as night approached. It was a peaceful scene one he had learned to appreciate, he had always had a special deal when it came to nature, he was about as natural as you could get, he was nature in a matter of speaking. He was musing again. he wondered if all that meditating earlier had don this to him or if it was purely his fault himself. he laughed to himself hands on the edge to keep from teetering as he laughed with his heart bared. he never even noticed someone else had arrived on the roof and was standing a distance behind him quietly watching the Teen who had changed so much in what felt like so short a time. She was disappointed in herself and he life, it was just convenience, one convenient action after another, she couldn't have Flash, so she came here, she couldn't be Leader so she settled for lackey. She couldn't be the best so she settled for second. It was always settling. Here he was though, he had stopped settling and did something, and he actually packed up and left it all, no idea where he was going only that he was. She wished she had that kind of strength. She sighed under her breath and looked at the ground. It was a full five seconds before she realized the laughing had stopped and looked up. He was staring at her, when her eyes went a bit wide he smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his head in his stereotypical nervous gesture and waved she sighed and walked up and sat next to him, he adjusted to this new arrangement, sitting slumped forward a bit. They sat like that in Rapt silence for a few moments before she spoke first.

"How did you do it...?" Gar just stared at her a moment, completely lost as to her intent.

"What do you mean?" he asked with more than a touch of confusion in his voice. as she shifted a bit akwardly and turned to look at him with her eyes pleading.

"Just leave like that, leave everything behind and leave?"Gar looked out again at the city and paused a moment gathering his thoughts before speaking without turning back to her, leaning back a bit as he spoke.

"Well I guess I just got tired, just the need to roam and so I sold everything I owned and left. nothing magical about it." He said with a ghost of a Smile and looked back to the pink haired witch. "why do ya ask?" He had an inkling, the look in her eyes felt hauntingly familiar then he remembered that was the same look he saw in his own eyes weeks ago right before he had planned to leave. he saw that same dissatisfaction in her now. it was something primal in him that told him, he didn't even know where it came from, but he knew the little voice was right this time.

"I want to go too," Bullseye. "I never liked it here really, none of these people are any fun, they are all far too serious and completely upon themselves, they are a team in the field but as soon as it's over. Poof!" she said with a flourish. "It dissappears and they are all seperate. it's like they are little machines, I feel so damned alone here all the time..." it's hard to admit the place you have called home never really felt like one, she jumped a little when a warm weight settled on her shoulders and hugged her a bit, she looked up at the green skinned titan and smiled a bit and threw an arm across him and he grinned right back. They looked across the City and she made a decision then and there. No more Second Best.

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A/N: Three Chappies, because the mood took me to keep on writing this little ditty, on a random pairing I literally drew out of no where just a random thought, "hey, those two are kinda similar" and such it was born, my EPIC! BUHAHAH! still blocked up on Promises... bah -.- R&R


	4. Keld

Standard disclaimer: I claim no ownership of the canon charactors presented within, only those that are the fruits of my own imagination.

He stood at the Gate and looked back at the Tower. In the end once everything was said and done he had stayed two nights, he had stayed so long being that the previous day had been Monday and it seemed a rule that even Villains hated Mondays. But Aside the humor of that it had been interesting even though he never did get to meet Grey, well that hardly mattered, he didn't seem like a particularly interesting person anyway. So he shouldered the pack, having been given a few rations just in case, they had been in storage; they were never really needed anyway. As he walked away he whistled a tune, it really wasn't anything in particular just the music in his head at the moment as he walked into the Overcast day, it would be getting cold soon he estimated, Well, that was what his instincts sad anyway, and lord knows how often they were right. So again the Covered Green traveler began off on a Trek to places unknown, just one foot in front of the other, headed east now, the next town and the next sort stop on his little trek. He didn't look back, there wasn't a reason too, it had been fun but it was time to move again. He hadn't gone half a mile before he heard the patting of boots racing after him along the edge of the highway, and the rapid heavy breath of their owner, he turned with curiosity and was more than a touch surprised to see Jinx racing after him her cheeks flushed and a military style C bag over her shoulder, really just a sack with straps, almost like a duffle bag, but with a few added measures to secure some things. He stopped walking his hands on the straps of his small pack and looked back at her as she slowly caught up to him and dropped the bag to her side her hands on her knees as she bent over to catch her breath gulping air into her burning lungs, she was a touch out of shape, Icebridges had made her complacent in the running. She caught her breath and stood up still looking a little flustered as Gar let a little smirk ride his lips for a moment as she fought for the air to speak and finally managed to get her breathing under control.

"I-I want to go with you." She said looking adamant. He cocked his head a somewhat confused look on his face.

"But I'm not going anywhere." He argued, somewhat halfheartedly. It really wasn't such a bad thing, to have some company and he could have done a lot worse. Still though, he really wasn't sure she knew what she was getting herself into. She didn't look like the camping type to him.

"I know that!" she said with a little bit of fury. "it's just that… well,"

"You want to escape too." He finished and she looked at him and nodded, reshouldering the bag that seemed bit big to Him, he shrugged it off and turned, he'd question her motives later, he would rather move while they still had light. She just shut up and after a few quick steps fell into stride with him. They strode in quiet for a few miles before he slowed a bit and fell back to walk next to her having since stuffed his hands in his pockets. He continued watching the horizon, or the curb ahead, when there was roadway to follow, but it was pretty flat in this area so the horizon was just as well. He spoke after a moment or two as she looked at him quizzically.

"Why?" He asked simply assumeing she knew what he was talking about and she did, She looked straight ahead and shifted the pack a bit on her shoulders Wondering for the umpteenth time why she had decided so much of this stuff was essential. Before answering his quandary.

"I settled for what I could get, the path of Least resistance, and I am sick of it. So I'm changing it." She said with more confidence than she felt in her split second decision. But she was here and she had every intention of doing this, no more backing out and settling for what others assign her, First she Worked for Blood, because he was a direction, he had a plan and a future lain out, then he joined the Titans for the same reason, they had something they stood for and a way to accomplish it. That was what they did. But both times she was unhappy, she felt like she had no say, always like there was something missing from it all. It took her all this time and one night of really thinking about it to realize what she wanted, she wanted a little freedom, and to that she nodded her head. Gar saw it, and let the deeper nosey desire to hear it all drop. He probably wouldn't get the whole thing anyway. They continued on in silence for a while, the sun setting behind them as they walked their shadows growing longer and longer. Finally he thought of something to say, now just to break the silence, he was always nervous in the quiet when other people were around. She however beat him to it.

"So, Beast Boy-" she began, he cut her off though, more habit than anything. "Just Gar. I'm not a hero anymore, just a guy with some crazy genetics." He said with a trademark goofy smirk, she tittered a moment before continueing with her question.

"Gar, You really have no idea where you are going?" He thought about it a moment, there were things he would like to go, but as far as a final destination…

"No, not really, just going. Why Jinx, you have somewhere you're going?" He said with a whimsical finality to his statement, and peering over at her sidelong with the question.

"No, I was just wondering… and as long as we're not heroes anymore call me Nicole." She said, that was probably the first time anyone knew her real name since she had Joined H.I.V.E. She sighed inwardly; it would have come out eventually anyway.

"Nicole? Cool. I'm Garfield, that's what Gar stands for." He was with that same dumb grin, Jinx fought back another laugh and looked ahead. Really there was something exciting about it all. Not to mention rather interesting that as Titans they hadn't let each other know their names. Suddenly though, it's fine, the person has a real name instead of something that was purely made up. It added a certain… depth to his character as he began to pick up the pace from that little lull again. The march went a little slower now that he couldn't turn into a deer and trot, that was rather annoying but he'd deal with it, sacrifices for company.

Well that was all fine and good but the real test is yet to come. Later that night it did indeed, in the form of a rather upset Jinx and a shrugging somewhat exasperated Beast boy, who would have known Jinx would be such a prissy person about where she slept. Her volume of voice was slowly rising and it was beginning to hurt his ears a bit as he stood on the cleared turf where he had taken his pack and held it by the loop to take with him into the tree as he argued with the distraught pink haired woman.

"Well, where did you think I slept? I'm not government funded anymore, it's just what I have in pocket, and that is not a lot." Gar stated, rewording the same argument for the umpteenth time against the violently unhappy Jinx who stood bristling with her hands at her sides glaring with slitted pupils at him as though he may burst into flames any moment. But this was getting him no where, he simply walked over to the bad luck witch praying she'd be too angry to unleash a little of that famed skill on him at the moment and took her bag and with one on each shoulder began to scale the tree as he had a million times past until he reached the first branch and then using it as a stepping stone to hoist and set the two bags well out of reach of anything on the ground as Jinx just glared dumbfounded u at him, as he swung rather acrobatically up to the next highest branch and tested it's thickness and the back condition for ants and the such, and he noticed her shrieking had stopped and she was just watching him with her lips slightly parted. He looked down at her fro where he was and sighed then lept nimbly down to that first branch and hooking his legs around the tree came down, upside down his arms crossed over his chest, looking up at her where she stood on the ground. She spoke first.

"How did you do that without even changing?" She seemed a little mystified at his acrobatics despite his unwillingness to destroy his wardrobe and looked down to her and shrugged.

"Changing is not all I can do, so you wanna come up or chance it with wolves and maybe a bear?" he asked though it was less a question than it sounded as he dropped his two arms and waited for her, after a few moments she took his hands and he swung kicking her up off the ground and sending her high enough to reach the branch nearest him on her own wich she quickly scaled and lept higher up to about the level of their bags and looked down.

"watching you most of the time I doubted you had any grace at all." The insult was sugar-coated, and he thought about it as he righted himself and oriented on her again, he wasn't the best at understanding people but he guessed that she intended that as some kind of twisted compliment. He began his assent with a little less vigor and made it up to a similar height to where she resided and settled against a branch straddling it with his back against the trunk. she looked over unsure of herself and mimicked his positioning so as not too seem foolish before she spoke.

"So…. This is how you've been living for what… like a month or two?" she asked innocently enough he shrugged again but realizing that she wasn't looking at him vocalized it.

"Yeah more or less. Nothing magical about it." He felt like he was referencing magic a lot, maybe thinking of Raven… who knows. He Settled a bit and took a deep breath he let out slow his head turning to the side a bit and soon enough he was asleep, it was easy with the green lush around him even as it was shifting into a colorful spectrum, the last thoughts in his mind were hoping he fond someplace to stay once Winter arrived, it would not be fun to live out here In that cold.

Jinx however couldn't sleep so easily, this was entirely new to her, she was used to relative luxury she was expecting a campsite, not merely leaping into a tree and napping the night. She shifted her thighs against the wood was highly uncomfortable. She adjusted to a cross-legged position a bit less stable but definitely more comfortable, she crossed her arms across her chest and with a bit of a frown tried to rest, it wasn't coming easy, lord knows it wouldn't. She huffed after a few minutes of restlessness and took out the communicator she had, it was a Titans comm., she had been very proud of it. She flipped it open and considered calling in… considered though and doing are two very separate things. She really sat and stared at the blank screen of the deactivated comm. With a minute frown put it away and recrossed her arms, realizing suddenly why Gar was wearing Jeans.

Morning came too Soon for Jinx, and after a long argument and some berries and roots too each, which surprisingly wasn't bad they were moving again, and thus it continued over foothills and across slowly grayer landscape, pausing in a town occasionally to pick up something, or for her to change her clothes which she did, to closely mach what Gar was wearing, only a touch more feminine, the jeans were close fitting on her and she was wearing two shirts, suddenly angry at herself for staying so thin, as well as getting her a Beanie cap to keep a touch warmer, and to hide the odd color of her hair, as well as a pair of sunglasses, mostly so she would stop scaring everyone they met.

This continued to the point where Jinx was almost as comfortable with it as he, sure she still complained but it was more a protocol now than an actual argument. However, over the next bend and reaching into a city encircled on three sides by mountains lay a dark place, over industrialized and monochromatically dark a beaten sign read at the city limits "Welcome To Keld, City of Industry" And Looking into the tiny suburbs he could tell why, this city was built on a reclaimed swampland, there was almost nothing to the suburbs, it was a metropolis, but an isolated one. He had seen a map they were at least an hours drive from the nearest city, and that was not a comforting thought. He stopped and looked at the City, it was dark and grimy even at this distance that was obvious. It looked so… sad, dour even. He frowned, he remembered a city like this, but he had never been there. It was from Nightwing. He used to talk about Gotham. And if Gar had to find a Gotham away from Gotham based on those descriptions alone this was the city he would pick. Winter on their heels, Every day got colder, He took a deep breath and started walking toward the city with a tight look on his face. Even as he made up his mind Jinx Whistled and almost prophetically stated "That place looks like Crime capitol of the world… Wait, Gar? You are Not serious!" And with that she jogged a bit to catch up and resumed her complaining with new fervor. Into Keld, Something New, and something dangerous. You can take the Hero out of the Fight, but you cannot take the Fight out of the Hero.

The Suburbs went by in a matter of a few miles, before they hit factories and thick smoggy haze that seemed to choke the very trees, which seemed stunted, smaller than those they had seen in the wild not even a few miles back. They moved swiftly though that area though, it was just grocery stores and the occasional strip mall. No where to sleep they could see, and being on foot it was about an hour into the city. It was already dark by the time they reached what could be called downtown. And their earlier assessment had been correct. The street was edged in garbage, the sidewalks speckled with old gum long hardened to the ceemnt. Even the buildings managed to exude the same aura of sheer unfriendliness. Many of the lights in the buildings were already out. And those that were on, no one could be seen in the windows, the streets were busy enough. People heading here and there dressed for the cold in drab plain colors. It looked so… neglected compared to Jump. But this city probably had as much crime. They just didn't bother to hide it. They looked at the city and they saw the real face.

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A/N: Well there was a sudden, unexpected interest spike in this story so I guess Iwill pick it up again at least until people lose interest again. Why not right? R&R please, it tells me you want to read more. if you don't care don't bother. Flames will be used to heat my cold room. Thanks.


	5. A Descision Is Made

Disclaimer: you get it. I don't own TT or it's trademarked characters, all original characters though. are MINE

The morning came far too soon for Nicole she rolled over when she felt the warmth of the sun break upon her pale face however she noticed something that did awaken her, looking around the room curiously starting with the spot on the bed she didn't hear anyone else in the room. Which she figured would be clearly an error in all the time she had known the Green guy when he got comfortable he was want to never move for hours upon hour. However, this was summarily dismissed as the Green kid was conspicuously absent vanished right under her nose, and she prided herself on being a light sleeper so that only made this more enigmatic. The question lingered in her mind as she stood and wandered around the room looking for something alive and green. Finding nothing she decided to take advantage of an opportunity she had not had in some time. She found a towel in the room and wandered out with it around her waist looking for the bathroom soon finding it she went for the doorknob carelessly and found it locked. This puzzled the pink haired witch for a moment before her brain registered the sound of water inside. She suddenly had the distinct feeling of losing her touch. It disappointed her for a few off moments before she took a deep breath and calming herself waited. She had lived in communal housing for a long while now, this was normal, she was only used to being the first one up.

After about ten minuets telling her whoever was in there was either very slow or had just gotten in when she wandered up. However it wouldn't matter the water shut itself off moments later and after another minute of silence the door opened and out stepped a green fleshed young man, Jinx was looking him right in the throat, she got quite an eyeful of him in the warm air coming out of the bathroom into the relative chill of the hallway. The moment dragged on a moment before She couldn't stop herself in the need to make the moment slightly less tense. "So Green Bean, when did you start getting hunky?" She asked with that feline, bordering on Cheshire grin. Leading to a darkening around his cheeks that she could swear was a blush as he smiled. "well… you know, it kinda came with the job. Ya know?" Garfield said somewhat embarrassed he thought he had been careful in silent moving waiting until mid morning when most of the other Tenants were already through and moved on before going to the shower, he had been careful. But apparently hadn't taken her into account. He had something of an issue with showing a lot of skin. He wouldn't really call it a modesty problem, he didn't like to admit it to himself but being tinted the shade of the average blade of grass tends to make one a little self conscious. He looked at the floor and stepped past her. And she slipped by she let him get away this time without embarrassing him _too _badly. \

Though she did smile to herself for making him Blush it was so much fun, toying with boys like that. She stepped into the room and shed her remaining clothing and looked down at herself. She didn't have tone like that, it almost, _almost_ made her jealous but then she remembered that she had bested him one on one far too many times to care. She poked around the bathroom somewhat disappointed in the lack of her normal hair care but with a sigh letting that slip, she had ended up dropping so many things over the last few days just to lighten the load. She felt something like an idiot for having thought to bring it all. She started the water, one hand in the stream, the other on the knobs turning them until she got it where she wanted it. She had never liked really hot showers, it was just plain unpleasant. Once she had the water where she wanted it she stepped in, and scrubbed herself of what she could, overly wary of the soap and the horrible places it could have been. As she stood there beneath the stream of hard droplets impacting her dozens a moment she had a little time to think. And wonder what next, just keep hopping city to city, transients for the rest of their lives? No they'd find a new home one way or another…. She thought about the city they were in, Definitely not here. It was filthy Grimy and they had already almost been mugged, not that that was a _problem_ per say. More like, did they really want to try to find a life in a place so obviously corrupt to the core? She took a deep breath and laid her hand on the tile under the shower head placing her forehead beside it, he bubblegum locks so limp without their villainess treatment. Flat and straight, so boring.

That is what started her in the horns style in the first place, she hated the mere idea of being boring. It felt like such a silly fear, but really normalcy frightened her she had always sought the spotlight. Fear of being alone is what it probably came down to but she was unwilling to admit that to even herself. She took another deep breath held it and turned her face into the spray running her finger over her visage trying to cleanse it of the dirt that had likely become ingrained, she had turned a pale brown over the last few days, and that in and of itself was annoying. But enough of the personal epiphanies she shut off the water and stepped from the tub to swiftly towel herself off and wring as much water as she could from her hair which reached mid-back when not up. She settled for twisting it into something of a twirl and laying it over her shoulder as she adjusted the position of the towel and stepped out her clothes in arm as she moved swiftly back to the room they had spent the night in finding the moss colored boy standing looking out the window, she waited for him to notice her, and when that started taking too long she cleared her throat and he spun on his heel into a ready stance in the blink of an eye at least Robin instilled some good habits into the otherwise messy style of the beast. She stood tapping her foot and hooked a thumb to the door he got the message and scurried out as much like a rat as possible without actually becoming one.

She dressed swiftly, her clothes were regular, just jeans and a plain pink T-shirt with the black hoodie. Changeling had already dressed himself as well, black gloves and a black long sleeved shirt, it looked plenty thick so she could only assume that was why he had picked it. He slipped the ripped hoodie over it and pulled up the hood to cover as much of the green as possible he didn't exactly want anyone noticing him, either fans or worse, cape killers. Believe it or not they existed, people who's mission in life was to kill other super powered individuals sometimes even humans. Sad but True. In any event the two of them silently gathered their belongings and moved out of the room leaving it in as close to the condition they found as possible. They moved out to the street and Gar looked up and around memorizing as much of the spot as he could, they may need to spend another night here but for now it was an exploration trip. There were no titans here, there was only seemingly Human police versus the corruption of an entire city.

The didn't have to go far to find trouble. Stepping into a convenience store intending to get a little something for breakfast, no wild fruit trees to sustain them here. After gathering a few things to eat, as much on the cheap side as possible, they moved to the front counter with Nicole again in front and letting her do the talking. No argument there and no trouble yet, yet being the operative term. The door burst in and a single assailant wearing a ski mask and bearing what appeared to be a glock 9mm semiautomatic. Immediately the clerk raised his hands and the two teens merely stood staring at the man as though he were an idiot as he spoke. "All the money in the register Now," and turning to the nomadic pair turning the pistol on them as well "all your money too!" They shared a glance and Jinx stepped up taking a deep breath, then smiled. "I'd rather give the barrel a blow job." Immediately the Robber became confused and there was silence a moment and then in the blink of an instant Gar dove behind one of the walls as Nicole was forced to literally dodge a bullet, she did this in her usual way. She flipped toward our unsavory character as he fired a number of times, rather inaccurately into the wall where she had been but she was already over his head her ankles kicking back to rest on either side of his head and clamping firmly. Those who recognized the position may have known what was about to happen as Nicole's hands planted onto the ground, but the gun toting man obviously had never had this one happen before so was rather unprepared when an abnormally strong jerk pulled him off his feet and pounded his cranium into the deck. Throughly disabled the clerk cheered and began to congratulate the two teens, he was loud and the praise was glowing. Neither were quite used to it coming from someone, too long being taken for granted. They came forward and Nicole went to pay the man and he waved off their money and told them to take it, after thanking him and making sure the police were called the two split after quickly binding the likely concussed robber with a piece of cable from the back room. They set out to find a spot to eat both smiling a bit and talking quietly. "you know it is kind of nice when they do that. None of the complaining about damage, or about the rights of the criminal." Nicole said a little bounce back in her step. Gar responded with a chuckle his hands behind his head. "yeah, embarrassing as it is this seems like a better place for heroes already... this town definitely needs 'um." The comment left both of them silent. They were both skilled in the business... why not set up shop, neither were part of the TT anymore. So they'd be on their own Gar was regretting it, Nicole was grinning at the same idea.

The next few hours were spent exploring, once a good way up to the roofs was found, they surveyed the town, and it was rather level, skyline wise, the buildings were large and imposing the closer one got to the city center. But that in and of itself was hardly a problem for these two. They spoke there in the light of midmorning looking at the skyline and up the neat web way of streets intersecting nicely with one another. "well, if we are gonna do the hero thing. You know, we don't even have a base. No home, and it hardly behooves a hero to be sleeping in alleys. " Nicole said with a flick of her hair. Changeling brows furled "behooves?" Nicole facepalmed. "It's not appropriate Grass Stain!" Gar cracked up "you sounded like Cy right there!" rolling onto his back laughing Nicole just glared venomously. After this little break in mind they began to explore the city. Looking around carefully mind on finding a place to call home, at least for now, they went into the roughest neighborhoods looking for places to set up, they passed every undesirable imaginable. Gangbangers, ladies of the evening, Dealers, everything, even Jokers, that in itself spoke to how low this city was if the Joker had his fingers in it. They carefully avoided these clown painted freaks, it was unhealthy to be around anything that might be packing joker gas.

The time was turning to be rather fruitless in that they were still lacking a good place to set up the "base but then a stupid question arose from Gar that made both of them stop."Why couldn't there just be a damned cave in the mountains around this pla-"

They looked at each other no way it could be that simple. The next few hours were spent heading in one direction until they found the edge of the buildings ended literally nestled against the mountains that ringed the city in. This was one of those moments of retardation bearing big healthy fruit. The pair of them headed to the outskirts of the city and began to work, searching along the mountain line for an inlet or something surely there had been caves in a mountain set as big as that. However after a few wasted hours and one foiled robbery courtesy of Gar turning his face into a wolf's and growling causing the kid trying to rob them to run like a chastised pup. This turned out to be a good thing however because as beast bow was walking back to search he walked to the sheer face of the cut mountain and leaned against it with a sigh: "how can one city have so many things wro-" punching the wall as he spoke, this turned out to be quite the stroke of luck in and off itself. He was cut off as the wall he leaned on gave way sending him through the paper thin wall, making one wonder how it survived the drills that sheered the mountain in the first place. But looking in he smiled and looked around seeing a flash of pink off ahead, he jogged after her calling her name. it took her a moment to notice but when she turned around he had caught up and was grinning like a moron, she couldn't stop herself from asking the dumb question, "Find something greenboy?" she asked with a smirk Gar hooked a thumb over his corner. "stumbled into it actually, heh. " he sounded so proud of himself too.

She followed the suddenly hyper Green boy back where he had run from and stepped through the hole in the wall and into the darkness beyond. "it's really dark in here… Do your hex bolts light things up like Starbolts?" Gar asked the bubblegum witch behind him. Nicole raised a hand and her eyes glowed pink alighting the cave in a wash of pink light. She smirked and Gar nodded smiling his lopsided grin and walked around exploring with Nicole in tow. It was rather small and ended a few dozen feet back in a pool of water that had likely carved the cave in the first place. All in all it was about ten feet across the ceiling was a bit low seven feet in most places but dropped to six occasionally, not a big problem, as both of them were a bit on the short side still, despite a few inches onto each of them. Standing in the small cave mouth Gar tossed a question that was nagging at his mind for a while.

"How come they didn't blow this open, the side of the mountain is obviously blasted." he said looking around Nicole stopped inspecting a stalactite to look at him and after a moment of contemplation she was now as curious as he, "you know that is a damned good question." She said putting her hands on her hips but then looked back to him softened a bit. "but the truth is does it matter? We found a good spot to hide, if we can fix the entrance. And I'd be willing to bet money that pool in the back connects to the city sewer system one way or another…" she said and looked back at Gar who was nodding thoughtfully. The moved to the mouth of the cave and looked around it inspecting the break and after a moment and a grin they began to work. Splitting with intent to come together every hour to report they began to do what came naturally to those on a tight budget, Thrift, they searched dumpsters and browsed alleys and curbs looking for things people had thrown away, if it seemed useful they took it.

This kind of activity naturally took some time, the rest of their daylight in fact by the fall of night however they had collected quite an assortment of items, not to mention the groceries they had gotten and stored in the cool cave, still somewhat damp but they were already on the way to fixing that as well. Gar had found some large pieces of what had likely once been the side of a warehouse. Corrugated aluminum still in good condition, they began with that, placing it to cover as much floorspace as possible. Then to ensure it would not do any wobbling he discreetly slipped out of his clothes as Nicole waited outside and began something big and heavy, a gorilla actually, and stomped around the place, much to the covert amusement of Nicole who watched from outside. She looked over her shoulder at the one hundred or so yards between this spot and the beginning of the city springing up rather immediately in tenement housing, not the nicest place, but bullets hardly scared either of them anymore, and what did either of them have to fear from untrained enemy combatants. After the Aluminum floor was safely secure and not sliding around anywhere and Gar had given the alright to come back in after he had redressed she walked about it didn't seem to slide or wobble much, regardless of what she did, even a touch of hex didn't make it do much, good sign.

After that was in place they, using 2x4s Nicole had been bringing back throughout the day, along with lengths of rope ala Gar they fashioned a platform about the size of a one room apartment out of scrap materials looking at their work with matching grins they set about setting up the other things they had found. Some old sleeping bags using a few cheap blankets Gar had picked up at the salvation army store made something like bedrolls. A shelving unit made of metal with one bent leg (swiftly repaired) served as a place to shelve their more perishable goods against the cave wall where it was cooler from the slightly damp stone, they resolved that being careful with food was a good idea, nothing that wasn't seal able, these were prime mold conditions and neither one of them wanted to come down with Ergot poisoning. They stepped back and stood at the mouth of the cave in the swiftly fading light, it was no bat cave but it would have to do. Stepping inside Changeling put up the makeshift disguise for the cave a rather iron grey sheet he had stained with mud in facsimile of a wall, not much but they could improve as they went. After all, they didn't have Wayne enterprises or the government behind them anymore. They set up for bed in the pitch dark, Nicole veritably vanished into a wrap of blanket so only a small bloom of pink and half her face was visible anymore. Beast boy on the other hand shifted into a rat, crawled, crawled out of his clothes and shifted into a dog laying his head on his paws he lay down to relax after a quick roll placing the blanket around himself nestling right in. both were soon asleep. Though one had to wonder how effective this setup would remain once they had real enemies inside this city, ones who sought them out. Only time would answer this question.

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A/N: Damn I got long winded with this one, little more happening, not a lot. I hope to make the next chapter a little bit more interesting, introduce a few criminals maybe an old face or three, but some of my own design as well. And expect to see a few heros in the upcoming chapters too, I have some ideas. Thanks to all those who reviewed and who will. If you have ideas an suggestions I listen to my fans! R&R and I will try to update soon.


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